The term “American Exceptionalism” has been much in the news lately, primarily because President Obama has frequently been accused of not believing in it. It is a strange expression, as is referring to the United States of America as “America,” as though the “of” wasn’t part of the deal. North America, Central America, and South America are also part of “America.” In saying so, I am probably guilty of having denigrated the concept of “American Exceptionalism.”
But that’s not really the case. I agree that the United States of America is exceptional in one sense of that word. In our relatively short history, we in the U.S. have established and enjoyed a relatively (not absolutely) unique culture. As countries go, we currently have the largest economy and military, but that’s not enough for us to claim “American Exceptionalism.” That would be an extreme example of short-term thinking. A longer view of history reveals that, at one time or another, virtually every part of the world has been “exceptional” in the sense of large economy and military might. In “Ozymandias,” Percy Bysshe Shelley, an exceptional British poet, said:
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
I suspect that while he was alive no one accused Ozymandias of not believing in his own exceptionalism—or lived to tell about it.
Regardless of the rise and fall of empires, every country (and really every people, as countries also rise and fall), is exceptional, perhaps in different ways at different times, but exceptional nevertheless. The same is true, of course, for every individual. Most of us may be lumped into the category of “ordinary” or “average,” but that view is every bit as short-sighted as failing to recognize the vast scope of human history in evaluating cultural exceptionalism. My sense is that many of the world’s problems would evaporate when we are (at last) able to recognize the uniqueness—the exceptionalism—of everyone.
One of the things I have enjoyed most about the NLP workshops with Richard Bandler and John La Valle I have attended over the years is meeting so many people from so many different countries and cultures. Human exceptionalism is alive and well and deserves to be recognized. While having something in common, such as an interest in NLP, helps establish connections, the differences are what make us unique. All too often, the differences result in conflict, whether major or minor. Those differences, however, are what we need to learn to understand and appreciate. The truly exceptional individual, after all, is the person who is willing to meet others where they are rather than insulating him- or herself from the reality of differences.
This does not, of course, preclude the need to evaluate the consequences of actions and beliefs and to reject and resist harmful behaviors, whether the harm is to self, other, or the environment. In my opinion, we should all live one of the major precepts of the medical profession: “First, do no harm” (which is something to think about when you hear the list of side effects from common pharmaceuticals, including my favorite: “… rarely resulting in sudden death”).
We also need to remember that one of the dangers of “resisting Evil” is that those who resist are likely to become mirror images of the Evil they wish to eliminate. The old TV show, “Kung Fu,” included the following advice to aspiring martial artists: “You do not have to stop force: it is easier to redirect it. Learn more ways to preserve rather than destroy. Avoid rather than check. Check rather than hurt. Hurt rather than maim. Maim rather than kill. For all life is precious nor can any be replaced.” The final concept in the martial artist’s maxim is also true: it is better to kill than to be killed, when that is one’s only option.
In my opinion, we would do well to observe and follow that sequence in resisting harmful behaviors. Life is a lot more fun when you can appreciate the exceptionalism of others rather than viewing every difference as a threat to your own values and way of life. “Can’t we all just get along” has become a cliché, but you can probably imagine now what life might be like if we worked at making that our reality by recognizing and appreciating the varieties of exceptionalism that exist on planet Earth. After all, there is no Planet B.
